Finding yet another way to distract the media from his lies about preexisting conditions, President Donald J. Trump tossed out a new shiny object to get everyone’s attention by claiming he will do something that he is clearly forbidden to do.
According to AXIOS,
President Trump plans to sign an executive order that would remove the right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born on U.S. soil, he said yesterday in an exclusive interview for “Axios on HBO,” a new four-part documentary news series debuting on HBO this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Of course, as any 8th grader who stayed awake through middle school civics class can tell you, things that are enshrined in the Constitution can only be changed by a subsequent constitutional amendment, not be executive order.
The 14th Amendment states:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
It doesn’t matter if you are from Canada, Mongolia or Mars. If you are in the United States (unless subject to diplomatic immunity) you are “subject to the jurisdiction” thereof.
Therefore, if you are born in the United States, no matter what the circumstances, the Constitution that Trump swore to protect and defend says you are a citizen.
Trumpistas argue that the 14th Amendment wasn’t intended to provide citizenship for so-called “anchor babies,” saying the original intent was to provide citizenship for freed slaves following the Civil War.
OK. Let’s carry that argument to its logical conclusion. Let’s talk about what was “intended” in the drafting of a constitutional amendment.
Where in the 2nd Amendment does anyone see a clearly expressed intent that every man, woman or child should have the right to own automatic weapons? If we adopt the argument that President Trump can overrule a constitutional amendment by executive order, what’s to stop a Democratic president from overruling the Second Amendment?
Or, could Trump decide other amendments are subject to his interpretation? Can the 1st Amendment be altered by presidential fiat to protect only the “free speech” approved by Trump? Freedom of only Trump-approved religion?
Let’s get real. If America is still a nation of laws, the president cannot change the Constitution by Executive Order. The media should just report that as a FACT and continue focusing on real things… not the “hordes of smallpox and polio infested terrorists swarming the border” as Fox News would have you believe. Not the false belief that the President IS the law, not the chief enforcer of it.
Focus on what the President is saying, how it flies into the face of reality. Focus on his Republican enablers who would bend over for Trump rather than risk the anger of the 35 percent who would believe Trump if he said water was dry.
Focus on reality, not fantasy. The election is a week away.